Guillermo Prieto Reelected as Executive President of AMDA

AMDA was founded in 1945 and now represents the interests of around 2,390 dealerships located in more than 210 cities throughout Mexico. Guillermo Prieto, has been Executive President of the association for nine years and AMDA's board has reelected him for its tenth period. The committee of AMDA's state associations elected Enrique Peniche as its new President and Laura Rodríguez as its Vice President. 

Guillermo Prieto has been at the helm of AMDA for most of the past decade, even during the peak in sales in 2016. Back then, he told Mexico Automotive Review: "The consolidation of close to 40 brands led to 1,900 dealerships offering approximately 500 models, with up to 2,000 versions. The key automotive players have firmly established their strong hold on domestic industry." 

In 2018, he also led the organization amid the NAFTA renegotiation and worrisome uncertainty. He told Mexico Automotive Review that "2016 was an exceptional year with a growth rate of 18.6 percent compared to 2015, which we think was caused by anticipated sales due to market uncertainty. The election of a new president in the US, coupled with the renegotiation of NAFTA and less than friendly rhetoric from the US toward the Mexican automotive industry were key elements that kept sales from maintaining that aggressive growth", he said.

Most recently AMDA has taken an active role of promoting innovative sales channels for dealerships who have seen their sales compromised amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In a partnership with JATO Dynamics, AMDA is boosting digital sales by allowing car dealers to use FlEX MX app free of charge for up to three months. The app has all the information available about the different models offered in the country, offering a high-quality customer experience and a powerful tool for sales agents in comparing different incentives and costs of vehicles. 

AMDA forecasts two sales scenarios by the end of 2020. The most positive one expects 921,055 units to be sold by the end of the year, which is 30 percent less than in 2019. The second scenario forecasts a 46.8 percent drop in 2020 compared to the previous year, meaning just 700,649 units sold. Lockdown measures led to an annual drop of 60 percent in May and of 64.5 percent in April. 

AMDA's has also taken an active role to support efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. In early June, AMDA Hidalgo donated K95 facemasks to the state's health system.

"The expression ‘the new normal’ is increasingly accepted, understanding with it that social behavior will be modified by COVID-19 and that we will not carry out our daily activities as we did before the arrival of the pandemic. In addition, vehicle sales are also adapting to change and we will do so with the experience of a sector that has the capacity to rapidly transform and strengthen itself in the face of crisis," says Prieto.

Read Guillermo Prieto’ full Expert Opinion: Automotive Sector Transforms Itself to Face the Post-COVID-19 Era.